VICE-PRESIDENT, Dr Philip Mpango has called on African countries to boost local consumption of cashewnuts and their by-products and tap into the enormous continental market of almost 1.4 billion people, under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Launching Tanzania International Cashew Conference in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday, Dr Mpango also tasked the Ministry of Agriculture to fast track investments in cashew processing factories.
"Africa has a huge potential market of an estimated 1.4 billion people under the African Continental Free Trade Area, lets maximise this potential," he said. He also invited potential investors to invest in the Tanzania's cashew industry, saying the country has a comparative advantage in the cashew industry, manifested in its vast arable land and favourable weather conditions.
"Similarly, production of raw cashews is projected to increase from an annual average of 220,000 tonnes over the last ten years to 1,000,000 tonnes per annum by 2030, with intermediate targets of 400,000 tonnes in 2023/24 and 700,000 tonnes by 2026/27," Dr Mpango added. He said although several strides have been made, cashew growing countries, including Tanzania, still face some challenges such as about 90 per cent of produced cashew nuts is exported in raw form, thus fetching low prices.
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